The Snake's mistake
by defiasstone2
Summary: When Naruto defeated Mizuki, he gained his hitai-ate and began upon his life of a ninja. However, given the ease at which Orochimaru and others have at infiltrating Konoha at various points, what if removing one of the Sannin's informants prompted some retaliation on our young protagonist?
1. Snake plotting

"That fool Mizuki..." Padding down the street that connected to the chuunin building from the main area of Konoha, Orochimaru couldn't help but let his frustration get to him at such a missed opportunity.

The loss of Mizuki wasn't much of an issue, despite what he let Kabuto believe Orochimaru didn't actually struggle with agents and spies in Konoha, but the manner of his failure still irritated the former sannin. It was already on the loose lips of several chuunin he had been able to eavesdrop on under one of his disguises whilst in the Chuunin on duty barracks, it seemed that all his former teacher had done by labelling the whole incident as 'classified' was make it all the more important to gossip about.

They hadn't even questioned his presence there, despite the fact none of them would have recognised the pretty young female face he had 'borrowed' from a Kiri ninja several years before.

"But I suppose, if the brat can infiltrate the Hokage tower..." Orochimaru liked to visit his old village now and again, primarily to look for weaknesses and potential turncoats he could use to aid his cause, but also to provide him with no small amount of amusement at how shitty Konoha's anti-infiltration defences were.

It had been on his third visit he had encountered Uzumaki Naruto, at the time 7 years old, and he had to say he wasn't impressed. The stupid grin and pranks reminded him far too much of Jiriaya for him to consider the Kyuubi container a possible resource, though given how easily Mizuki had manipulated the boy from the sounds of it perhaps he had been thinking about this incorrectly...

' _Sensei does have a giant soft spot for the boy, even if he did nothing to improve the boy's life after painting a giant target on his back...'_ Coming to a stop as an idea slowly formed in his head, Orochimaru pondered for a second longer before smiling to himself.

It was the perfect opportunity, and not just because it would get rid of the niggling annoyance in his chest at the evenings debacle. He would have to make sure there were no guards of course, but given what he remembered of the rest of the village the ANBU would probably be found just as wanting. But the potential outcomes of this plan ranged from breaking the child's mind and unleashing the Kyuubi, to causing an even larger rift between Konoha and the boy, any of which would serve his purposes in the long term..

' _So Sensei, let's see if your little 'Naruto-kun' still greets you with a smile after this particular visit from his Jiji...'_ And with a transformation jutsu completed faster than most people could think the words, Hiruzen Sarutobi strode with remarkable purpose and ease for one of his age towards downtown Konoha, the only thing out of place in the otherwise impeccable disguise was the massive snake like grin that adorned it for a few moments before shifting sharply into a more typical grandfatherly smile.

' _Don't want to mess him up too much... That would cause Sarutobi to tighten up the village defences, but a little mayhem is always good. And, if I do it right, no one will realise it has been me. ...'_

Iruka stood at the front of his classroom, doing his best to ignore the dull ache from the stitches in his back as his eyes scanned the room a little concernedly...

' _He can't have forgotten, today of all days?'_

"Has anyone seen Naruto?" His question sparked various negative responses along with general confusion from the gathered pre-genin, though it was Kiba who was the one to ask the question Iruka had been somewhat expecting.

"Why would we have seen the baka? He failed the test..." With the obvious proof that Naruto hadn't turned up, as he would have argued that point vehemently if he had, Iruka knew he had a rush on his hands.

"Stupid baka, class I will be back in approximately 5 minutes..." Thankfully the use of the shushin jutsu was not particularly aggravating to his injury, meaning that three short jumps had him at the base of the now familiar apartment block.

Clambering up the steps to the fifth floor, where the young container had his apartment, Iruka knew he didn't need to keep his voice down as Naruto was the only one living in the building.

"Naruto! You better not be sleeping when I get up there otherwise I am dragging you to class cap and..." Iruka's aggravated rant cut short as he reached the fifth floor, his shinobi instincts kicking in as he spotted the door to Naruto's apartment ajar.

Palming a kunai, as Naruto would _never_ leave his door ajar after the aftermath of his graduation, Iruka stole forwards as quietly as his injuries would allow. Checking the door for possible traps, Iruka froze as an all too familiar scent filled his nostrils through the crack in the door, the strength of the smell worryingly strong.

Despite his urge to burst through the door and check on the young boy who despite his misguided misgivings he had become rather fond of, Iruka's common sense and training prevailed and he headed straight for the nearest window, palming the kunai to his off hand whilst he reached for the special item the Hokage had entrusted to him when he had become the class teacher of both Sasuke and Naruto.

"Better cautious than dead..." Iruka's personal motto rang especially true here, given the lack of traffic here normally if Naruto had been attacked and his apartment trapped, if Iruka didn't call for backup it could be some time before someone came to investigate where he had gone.

As he shot the black smoke emitting flare into the sky, Iruka turned to face the open door once more, thoughts passing to the apartment's occupant as he waited for the veritable storm of ninja to arrive.

' _Hang in there Naruto, help is on the way...'_

 _[]{}#%^*+=_

"Hokage-sama!" The intrusion of a pale faced chuunin into his office shouting his title was not as unusual as Hiruzen would have liked, but the next words from the man as his ANBU guard tackled him to the ground caused Sarutobi's posture to stiffen like a statue.

"Confirmed code black!" With a sharp nod from his ANBU guard as he confirmed the man's identity, and therefore the likelihood of his message being genuine, Sarutobi was already out from behind his desk and aiming for the window.

Vaulting the window frame with practised ease, Sarutobi's eyes caught sight of the slowly descending twin flares off in the downtown suburbs of the village, the location of this particular coloured flare making his heart sink in his chest even as he surged forwards. Konoha, and many of the other ninja villages, relied on emergency flare systems as well as more technologically advanced internal communication methods to alert its ninja to potential threats or emergency situations.

Ranging from various shades of green for alerting medical teams to the range of colours used to indicate an attack on a village target, there were only three flare colours that ALL ninja were meant to respond to regardless of rank. The light blue flare, used to alert ninja to a natural threat such as a fire or flood, was used when there was no significant external threat that could be dangerous for young genin. Issued to most senior genin and above, it usually only required the intervention of a nearby Jounin or ANBU team to deal with the crisis and fire off the darker blue 'all clear' flare.

The Black flare, especially given it's original firing had been confirmed with a second flare of the same colour, was a flare of such severity that it's use had previously lead to court martials after the event and was only surpassed by the white flare used to indicate the fall of the Hokage. Black signified an attack on or death of a clan head, clan heir or other S-ranked Konoha officials, either by an external group or a traitor inside Konoha's ranks that were still a threat to other parts of Konoha's security.

There were very few people who were given access to black flares, given the low number of people it applied to and the people who could be trusted with that kind of responsibility, but as he left his ANBU guards behind to sprint towards the apartment complex Sarutobi could only hope that it was being used by Naruto's ANBU guards to signify an attempted attack rather than the morbid truth that usually accompanied such a flare's use.

There were more than three dozen ninja searching the area as Hiruzen touched down in the street outside, resisting the urge to storm up to Naruto's apartment as he spotted the co-ordinating Jounin directing other new arrivals with his clan's characteristic calm and collected manner, Hiruzen striding up as fast as he could whilst Aburame Shibi finished directing one of last years genin teams to aid the search.

"Hokage-sama. Hiashi-San is inside with the response team. Code black raised by Iruka Umino upon his arrival to the apartment, ANBU team Shinzu responded well within regulation time and confirmed code black after finding multiple lethal traps spread throughout not only the apartment but the entire fifth through to seventh floors." Short, professional and to the point throughout, making it clear why so many of the supporting ninja were outside the apartment rather than inside it given the potential deathtrap it had been turned into.

"And the target?" Despite his concern about his surrogate grandson, Sarutobi knew the protocols for this kind of situation were designed to ensure the most optimal kind of outcome.

"Hiashi-san confirmed that Uzumaki-san is alive, he can fill you in further on the details Hokage-sama." Realising from the clan head's tone that there was something that Shibi wasn't telling him because of the potential eavesdroppers surrounding them, Sarutobi nodded and headed inside, guards finally settled and in position around him.

"Tora, Usagi, check the surrounding buildings for potential instigators or triggermen. Hato, Wani, check the basement in case there are any more surprises." Like the shadows they were meant to imitate the four members of his guard were gone a moment later, leaving the Hokage to ascend the stairs two at a time.

It was at times like this that Sarutobi's regretted the Yondaime taking his signature jutsu to the unfortunately early grave, responding to such situations would be so much easier if he could just flash around the village in an instant. Though given the Hyuuga clan head stopped him at the stairs entrance to the fifth floor, perhaps the slower approach was the safer one in this case.

"Hokage-Sama, I assume Shibi-san has filled you in on most of the pertinent details?" Staring across the twenty foot void that was the corridor to Naruto's door, Sarutobi could glean from the seriousness of the situation from the positioning of the ANBU squad not five feet from the pair of them as the scanned and checked every inch of the floor, as well as the bloodied form of Iruka impaled to the wall by a large kunai through the shoulder at the other end of the corridor.

"He did not mention Iruka-San being wounded..." At least, Sarutobi hoped the man was only wounded, given the bond that had formed between Naruto and Iruka the death of the stern but kind instructor would be a blow Naruto may not be able to take.

"Iruka-san is only lightly wounded Hokage-sama, he is lucky that he headed for the far window instead of back to the stairs when he set off the flare, whoever it was that did this had the traps set up so that they would arm at the first activation, which would have meant far more casualties for our response teams if Iruka-san hadn't set off the one he did whilst trying to return to the door. Iruka-san is lucky, some of the ones that team Shinzu have already disarmed were... unpleasant to say the least."

Sarutobi couldn't help but frown at the 'luck' they had with the traps, whilst there was the obvious explanation that whoever it was that had set this up had made a mistake with having such a simple and non-lethal trap as their final armament, it didn't sit well in his head.

"And Naruto? Someone with the skills to create such a complex set of traps certainly would not have much trouble with a newly graduated genin..." But despite that pessimistic view Sarutobi couldn't help but mentally grasp at the proverbial straw such a setup provided, such elaborate traps would work a lot better if there was someone to rescue on the inside.

"Hokage-sama..." The hesitance in Hiashi's normally stoic tone made Sarutobi's stomach fall slightly even as the Hyuuga clan head continued.

"He is alive, but the attacker was very... Thorough in his attack on the boy. In fact, if it weren't for the boy's condition stabilising him despite several critical wounds then we wouldn't be having this conversation." Despite his privileged airs and graces, Hiashi had always been a blunt and straightforward man, formerly relying on his now departed brother to counsel him in matters that required more tact or subtlety.

"And what about the ANBU stationed to watch him?" Sarutobi had already resigned himself to hearing about the deaths of at least two of his men, but his eyes hardened as Hiashi cast him a sharp look.

"We have squads sweeping for their bodies now, but given the amount of blood and level of chakra depletion Naruto is suffering he has been like this for at least 12 hours..." And with that revelation Sarutobi felt something he hadn't felt in years, the ice cold anger that flashed into an inferno as he created a shadow clone to carry out his will.

"Alert all ANBU commanders, find me ANBU squad 12 now!" And if they were in anything other than body bags, he would personally make sure they wished they had been...

 **A/N: I will be honest, by the time I finally got to the point of finishing this, I don't actually remember why I started. The only thing I can remember is that it was one of those ideas that wakes you up at 1:30 am and won't go away until you have written the initial part down...**

 **Given the ease at which everyone seems to be able to infiltrate Konoha in the initial period, I find myself liking the idea of Orochimaru doing a 'revenge' strike for Mizuki, especially as it will distract Sarutobi from his invasion plans if he is focussed on cleaning house as best he can internally.**

 **Not killing Naruto? Not only does this avoid the somewhat cliched 'Naruto coming back from the dead', but it also fits with Orochimaru's psychosis and persona as the master manipulator that the beginning of the series paints him as. I haven't envisioned what happened to Naruto, either physically or mentally, but there is no way he comes out of being tortured by someone who can act like Sarutobi so well in the same happy go lucky manner that he does in canon.**

 **Anyone interested in seeing where this goes with me?**

 **Defias Out**


	2. Code Black!

It was meant to be the equivalent of a paid holiday, or that is what Bull-taichou had said when he finally allowed her to join the Uzumaki detail, 6 months after she had passed the exams involved in gaining a hallowed ANBU mask in the shape of a Koala. The squad of 14 operated a 4 'on' 4 'off' schedule, with 8 of them assigned to guard the Uzumaki in pairs and the others doing wall patrols. The reason why the Uzumaki job had been kept from her initially became clear to her when she finished watching the boy for the first time.

Given what the boy contained, as well as the various rumours and horror stories of what had happened with demon containers from the other villages in the past when they 'lost it', meant that she had been determined to take the job of guarding such an asset seriously and had turned up almost half an hour early for her first shift.

To her surprise she hadn't been able to find her squad mates, who should have been on the day duty shift, something she had fully intended to report to her Taichou when he turned up for their joint shift. Still, despite the failed appearance of her compatriots she had a job to do, so she had spent her twelve hour shift watching the Uzumaki boy, primarily prepare dinner in the form of cup ramen that made even her ANBU rations look good before doing some training before bed.

It had been a long night, especially by herself, so by the time 8 am had arrived she had been furious to find her replacement as non existent as the rest of her team. Tracking down her squad leader had been a relatively simple task, given that he was at his home with his wife as the second place she checked. It was then that her view on what the ANBU name stood for was shattered, Bull-taichou merely laughing at her indignation before proceeding to explain to her in no uncertain terms, that the ANBU hadn't been watching Naruto properly for years.

Other than the occasional newcomer like herself and the three teams under the ANBU commander with a cat mask, all of the numbered teams treated it the same way now more or less, to the point that many of them didn't even try hiding that they were shirking their duties in one of the Ninja only bars that ANBU members frequented. Only when the Hokage planned time to visit the young demon container, which given the venerable Shinobi's hectic schedule was known weeks in advance, did the team turn up properly and even then it was only until the Hokage left.

A mild burning on her left arm distracted Koala from bemoaning another lonely shift of four nights ahead of her, given the mess left in the aftermath of the young Bjiu container's graduation night and Mizuki's attempted defection there was no way that she was risking slacking in her duties. She was surprised the Hokage hadn't already called in the pair on her team, who were 'watching' the boy on the night in question.

She didn't need to roll up her pyjama sleeve to know what the feeling was, the kanji for 12 a seal that was linked to a special scroll in the Hokage tower, allowing for messages to be sent quickly and securely to teams in case of emergency. Instead she focussed on the feeling as the burn intensified and lessened so quickly that most would have been entirely unable to follow the message contained within, her face turning pale as the first part of the message became clear.

 _Code Black. Report in now. Fox's hideout._

A code black was something all ANBU were to respond to as fast as they physically could, which was why Koala had left her half eaten cereal on the table in order to run into her bedroom to change clothes, forgoing the need for underwear to save twenty extra seconds as she almost tore her pyjamas off and slipped into her ANBU gear. The last part of the message almost made her freeze as her fears were realised, something had happened to the container and undoubtedly her team were nowhere to be found, and given how much the Hokage cared for the boy heads might literally end up rolling for this.

Still she reasoned, turning and probably being the only sober member of her squad could only be a good thing. And despite the disappointment she had felt with the others laziness, Koala still personally prided herself on being an ANBU member and really, really wanted to keep the mask she had worked so hard to earn. Grabbing said mask and heading to the door, pausing only to grab her tanto in case the attacker was still at large, Koala headed out into one of the most frantic settings she had ever seen in central Konoha.

Ninja of every rank were crowding the rooftops as they flitted in different directions with an urgency that was rarely seen in a single team let alone dozens of ninja, whilst the streets were packed with civilians being forced to pass through makeshift checkpoints that had very clearly been 'grown' from the road beneath them in a hurry. It was probably the first time she regretted getting the sound dampening seals put on the walls of her apartment, this level of mayhem would certainly have keyed her in to something being wrong precious minutes earlier.

Nothing she could do about it now though, jumping to the roof tops as her uniform made those around her provide her with enough room to head towards the still billowing black smoke from several streets over. The number of ninja on the roofs rapidly dropped as she approached the target, and she suddenly found her path blocked by a rabbit masked ANBU member, whose masked was lined with the silver outline that distinguished him as a member of the Hokage's elite guard.

"Koala of squad 12, your squad are on rotation for guarding Black level target, a target that has been attacked at least one shift ago with no sign of response from the guard team. Do you understand what I am telling you?" It was clear the man was angry even if his tone remained surprisingly calm and level, his hand hadn't left the handle of the rapier attached to his waist in a clear message as to what would happen if she tried to run or said the wrong thing.

It wasn't quite as serious as dereliction of the Hokage, but even if she couldn't remember the exact punishment that such a thing entailed Koala knew she really didn't want to find out, so she moved to attention as fast as she dared given how Usagi was clearly on edge.

"Hai Usagi-taichou, I have been off rotation for the last three days and was due to start my next shift tonight, I have no idea where the rest of my squad are." It was the equivalent of throwing her team in front of one of Hokage-sama's fireballs, but it was the truth and she really didn't want to risk saying anything but that right now.

"That can be confirmed later, but for now you are the first member of your team to report in. Hokage-sama will want to speak with you personally. This way." Contrary to popular belief, getting to talk with the Hokage was not a privilege that many ninja could claim, as the man was busy beyond belief most of the time.

That meant that her first meeting with the man since he had attended her academy graduation was going to be about her team's abandonment of quite possibly the second most vital target in the village, this wasn't going to help her aspirations to become an ANBU captain one bit. She jumped off in the direction Usagi directed, knowing that in a situation like this she was still going to be considered a flight risk until the Hokage deemed otherwise, the older ANBU always two or three seconds behind her as she landed in front of the apartment complex and sticking to her blind spot in ways that had her skin crawling.

The Hokage was like the centre of a storm, emanating the kind of calm fury that made Koala mentally re-evaluate whether being the first member of her team to get here was really a good idea. He turned as she dropped to one knee, the legendary patient smile that was the facial expression of 'The Peacetime Professor' absent as the intense stare of 'The God of Shinobi' burned a hole in the top of her skull.

"Koala-san, I think you know what I am going to ask, and for your sake I hope that your answers to my questions are _very_ satisfactory..."

[]{}#%^*+=

It had taken the ANBU almost half an hour to clear the corridor, and even with Hiashi's eyes aiding them two of them had been injured by some of the deliberately shielded traps that the attacker had set up, though thankfully the Hyuuga Lord had been able to help Iruka navigate his way back to the window in the minutes after the Hokage had left to find the missing team.

"Luckily the kunai caught you high in the shoulder Iruka, anywhere more serious and we might not be having this conversation." Getting stitched up by the Inuzuka clan head of all people made it clear exactly how out of the ordinary this situation was, all other chuunin or lower ranked ninja had been evacuated from an almost half a mile area for security reasons, only ANBU and other trusted Jounin allowed within 300 metres of the site given the risks of a remote detonation of the traps.

"Thanks for the... Honesty Inuzuka-san, not quite what I had in mind for the afternoon of the academy graduation, are the students?" Tsume chuckled at his strategic choice of words before settling on a smile as she interrupted his question.

"The assigned sensei's have taken care of it, even Kakashi turned up on time here with the black flare going off, not that he will be able to officially test his team based on what I've heard..." Tsume cut herself off as she realised what she was saying, but the implication about Naruto's injuries was the most people had given him in information terms since this had all started.

"How bad is it?" Obviously it was very bad given everyone seemed determined not to tell him, but before he could try and push for more information a wave of killing intent exploded through the makeshift medical tent they had erected, and even though it only lasted a second Iruka found himself gasping for breath as it passed.

"Holy shit, Hokage-sama is pissed at something if he's losing control like that, better go see what it is that has made him that angry." It wasn't an invitation for him to accompany her, nor was it an instruction for him to stay in the tent, which was about the level of ambiguity that Tsume could use as a defence in case the Hokage didn't want Iruka there for whatever it was.

Ducking under the flap that Tsume was holding open for him, Iruka winced as the movement combined with his response to the killing intent earlier made both his injuries ache painfully, though he shook it off as he shielded his eyes from the early autumnal glare. The Hokage was stood not far from the apartment complex entrance, looking down at a kneeling ANBU member with a Koala mask in a manner not unlike an angry deity as a tiger masked ANBU was reporting something from his right, his robes billowing slightly in a non-existent wind and his eyes almost glowing with the barely repressed chakra he was holding back.

"Must be a member of the ANBU squad meant to be guarding the boy, I would feel sorry for her but given Hokage-sama's reaction she's the lucky one, I wouldn't want to be the rest of her team if they aren't in hospital or the morgue." Despite the fury the man was exhibiting so casually, Tsume still strode towards him in the casual and forthright manner that caused so many to underestimate her clan's ability to act as shinobi rather than unsubtle berzerkers.

"ANBU teams 7, 11 and 17 are being told to report to ANBU HQ, though they haven't been told why. If what Koala reports is correct, then they may be jointly responsible in compromising village security. Usagi, Wani and Hato will be waiting with ANBU teams Yurei and Tengu to forcibly detain them, in case any of them prove... difficult." Iruka paused about 10 feet from the trio as he heard this part of the report, for three of the Hokage's personal guard to be assigned to a mission that wasn't protecting the Sandaime whatever breaches in village security they were talking about were dire to say the least, and chances were these breaches were linked to Naruto's attack.

"And the rest of squad 12?" It was like comparing fire and ice, the cold tone of the Hokage a far cry from the affable figure he pretended to be when he visited the academy on occasion, another wave of killing intent exploding out from him as Tora shook her head that made Iruka stumble.

He would have fallen if Tsume hadn't caught his uninjured arm, and given the now twitching Koala ANBU on the floor he wasn't even receiving a full dose. To Iruka's surprise Tora stepped between the fallen ANBU and her Commander and locked eyes with him, some unspoken conversation occurring in a fraction of a second before the killing intent faded significantly and Iruka could breathe once more.

"We have detained 8 members of squad 12, though Squad Leader Bull seems to be on the run, given the state of his home when Wani arrived. He will not get far." It wasn't an assurance as much as a statement of fact, Tora turning away to look at Tsume, who to her credit hadn't even looked fazed by the Hokage's outburst.

"Tsume-san, if you could help Koala-san to medical tent, I will have one of the other ANBU go and grab her some spare clothing for when she recovers." It was at this point Iruka noticed the small pool that was forming underneath Koala's collapsed body, but he was polite enough not to make an issue of it when Tsume nodded and released his arm to lift the woman back to something of a kneeling position.

"Iruka-san, please return to the academy and inform the new teams of the basics of what has occurred, I am giving you clearance to inform them about the attempted theft of the scroll of seals though nothing about Uzumaki's special circumstances is to be mentioned." It seemed that whatever silent conversation had occurred it had led to Tora taking control of the situation in order to allow the Hokage to get control of himself.

"Hai-ANBU-san." There wasn't much else he could say to that, despite his concern for Naruto the firm but subtle dismissal from the area left no space for brooking an argument.

As he turned to follow the order he had been given, there was a flurry of movement from the apartment complex and another ANBU came running up to the group, Iruka using the opportunity of being injured to struggle with the hand-seals just long enough to get some news that brought a relieved smile to his face.

"Hokage-sama, we have him!"

 **A/N: Tada! Another (admittedly small) chapter to tease you with in this regard, focussing on the fall out of Orochimaru's attack. It covers quite a bit of Konoha's response to a high level infiltration/assassination attempt that I think is quite lacking in canon, but then again there are a lot of things they are quite blase about in canon.**

 **And I know, it is another chapter without any actual Naruto in it, but we are getting there. Next chapter will be the first real actions in response to this attack, as well as a discussion regarding what is going to happen with the new graduates who are a man short. We might even get a bit of Naruto time, though no promises, it depends where the story takes me!**

 **Defias Out!**


	3. A Council of War

"Report." It wasn't the first time Kakashi had been to a Village Council meeting, he had even attended officially at the Council's request once rather than from the shadows as an ANBU, but the mood of the room was so different from almost every one of those occasions it was startling even to one as relaxed as he was.

"Based on new evidence found by the preliminary examination, an attack was carried out on S-rank Konoha asset codename Fox on the night of academy graduation, almost 48 hours ago." This piece of information from Ibiki was new to Kakashi, who had been informed of the pertinent details when the attack was discovered, and judging by the small twitches and eye movements of the assembled Shinobi he wasn't the only one.

"The asset has been heavily tortured, both physically and psychologically, and if it weren't for the asset's special condition the torture alone would probably have been enough to kill them. With almost 36 hours of no medical treatment other than their own healing ability, many of the assets wounds have become infected even with other influences limiting their spread." It was something that would have brought amusement on literally any other day, given the Sandaime's law it was still treasonous to openly discuss the Kyuubi's imprisonment inside Naruto, and some of the descriptions that had to be used to talk about it in meetings were hilariously complicated.

"Which begs the question Commander Tora, where were the ANBU who were meant to be guarding asset Fox?" The question from Sarutobi wasn't for his benefit, Kakashi imagined even some of the civilians present could guess that from his face, but Tora answered with the same relaxed manner that even Kakashi envied at times.

"11 members of squad 12 have been arrested due to dereliction of duty and treason charges, one member is still on the run and squad leader Bull was killed resisting arrest." That got everyone in the room's attention, though given the general results of being charged with treason in any hidden village, going down fighting was probably considered an easier way out by the somewhat brash man that Kakashi remembered training when he had been in ANBU.

"Squad 12 are not the only implicated group in this attack, based on testimony by several new trainees at least half of the numbered cadre may be compromised to a similar level." That brought a snarl from the normally composed Hokage, though he managed to rein in his intent to a small spike, which meant it was news to him as much as it was damning revelations to the rest of them.

Contrary to popular belief, including many of those sat in this room, ANBU weren't all one mass of cloaked and masked individuals. Including the Hokage's guard, there were 4 distinct groups of ANBU, divided by skills and experience as much as age or record.

At the base you had the basic ANBU cadre, which the other ranks called 'the numbers' given they were the largest and most dispensable section of the Spec Ops group. These were the least skilled or newest members of ANBU, and were generally separated into squads and left with the important but not vital jobs pertaining to village security or border patrol. If a member of the cadre was noted to have particularly improved on their initial intake skills at the regular performance reviews that took place, then they might receive an offer to compete for a place amongst the 'elite' ANBU teams.

Denoted by mythological creatures or figures as team names, these teams were commonly referred to as the Mythos section of the ANBU organisation, denoted by small kanji somewhere on their masks related to their individual teams. These elite were the true shock and awe force the village used when it _really_ wanted to sort out a situation quietly and efficiently, and you had to have been one for at least five years before you could even be considered for an ANBU captain position.

"And nothing was reported? Surely this has only been a recent development, but the _kage_ ninja assigned to monitor them must have noticed something..." Shikaku Nara's relaxed observation merely made the deliberately rigid stance of Tora all the worse.

 _Kage_ ANBU were those whose existence owed itself to the phrase coined by the 2nd Hokage, 'who shadows those who work in darkness?'. They were the ANBU version of the Torture and Interrogation department, and until now Kakashi himself had only ever met one of them in person, as far as he knew anyway.

"It is unconfirmed, but the _kage_ department are currently considered compromised as well, Inochi-san is currently collecting the identity files from their assigned safe boxes so that a select group can bring them in for questioning." It was clear that Tora was struggling to stand the embarrassment every subsequent word was heaping upon her, even if the problem with the _kage_ weren't actually her problems directly.

They were a department onto themselves after all, reporting only to the Hokage or particular ANBU captains if they felt it pertinent.

"So our main ANBU force is crippled and the 'ninja beyond reproach' are potentially traitors amongst our own populous. If it weren't for the fact that the general ninja force have no idea about the depth of the damage this would be worse than the Uchiha massacre." Let it not be said that Sarutobi couldn't sum up a situation in a short and concise way, and with the information about the _kage_ Kakashi now understood exactly why he was here.

"We will deal with this debacle in a moment. But first, and I cannot believe I'm saying this, we need to deal with the bigger issue than dozens of our ninja abandoning their posts." At this point the Hokage took a deep breath, obviously doing his best to separate his personal feelings from his mind before he continued.

"We have our first confirmed code black attack since the Uchiha massacre, and on one of our most vulnerable targets at that, one that wasn't meant to be public knowledge. What do we know? And more importantly, what don't we know." Tora spoke almost as soon as the Hokage stopped talking, though Kakashi couldn't help but mentally point out that the lack of secrecy was mostly the aged Shinobi's fault, not that he would dare say such a thing out loud.

"Target is currently in surgery, though they aren't confident enough to say he'll make it given his injuries. In addition to the large amounts of a poison cocktail in his system, the volume of which was almost triple what would kill a normal Shinobi, there were also traces of psychotropics and hallucinogens we have characterised as a Kusa blend that was a favourite in the third Shinobi war." A couple of the civilians in the room were looking green in the face already, which Kakashi knew from Tora's body language was only going to get worse, something that lit the fires of anger in his own belly.

"It is clear that the subject tried to fight back though, given the location of the confrontation and two of the targets fingers, the altercation took place inside the flat itself. This means either the attacker broke in and that is what alerted the target…"

"Or Genin Uzumaki let the attacker in, probably under a henge as someone he knew and trusted such as myself or Chuunin Iruka." The Hokage seemed to have a weight settle on his shoulders at this, but waved Tora to carry onwards.

"Target lost both index fingers, probably when trying to form a handseal for a jutsu, initial analysis shows this injury was a single clean cut through both fingers as well as a minor injury to the boy's chest. This implies that the attacker was a sword user of some kind. Even after losing two of his fingers the target engaged his attacker, from this point it is hard to distinguish between injuries obtained during the brief fight and the ensuing interrogation/torture that occurred, but we can confirm he obtained three broken ribs and a stab wound to the right thigh in the short confrontation that nicked his femoral artery and scraped against his femur. Once the target is stable the T&I department have requested a keyhole surgery of the wound to see if there are any deposits or marks on the bone that could give the characteristics of the weapon." Something that wouldn't help Naruto's immediate recovery but it wouldn't be the first time Kakashi had heard of similar operations being carried out, chances were that the attacker had cleared the scene of any evidence so what they could find on or in the boy's wounds would be vital to working out what happened.

"To summate the injuries gained during torture/interrogation, the target sustained the following: Stab wounds to the lower abdomen with three piercing either small or large intestine; broken fingers and toes in a manner that lead to multiple breakages in each digit; skin removed from the lower half of both arms to the elbow; removal of right lung without anesthesia along with broken and removed ribs to allow for extraction…" At this point one of the civilians bolted for the doors, obviously forgetting that they had been sealed for the Council meeting as he slammed right into them and bounced off them, the vomit he had obviously been doing his best to hold in forcefully expelled from the impact and splattering over him, the floor and the door.

Thankfully the Hokage was not known as the god of Shinobi for nothing, his knowledge of jutsu extensive even outside of the fields of direct combat, flipping through half a dozen seals without a sound. The smell of vomit barely reached Kakashi's sensitive nose before a minor wind jutsu provided a breeze to move the smell towards the secure ventilation ducts in the ceiling, the Hokage following up with a water jutsu that caused the vomit to coagulate together into a disgusting blob before dropping into a bucket that one of his personal ANBU seemed to have brought purposefully for this meeting.

"Wani, remove Councilman Uhara and escort him to his home, just make sure to impress upon him that the details of this meeting are of course classified until the information is released by the Hokage tower." The fact that the subject of this meeting would probably never be officially released went unsaid, but the Councilman was gone 5 seconds later and Sarutobi obviously decided to avoid having any further incidents.

"I think it best to avoid any further detailed discussion of the targets injuries, and we will have to wait for confirmation from the Medical department before we can get a functionality prognosis for the target." There were several small shifts of people's heads as they glanced at the empty Council chair designated for the head of the Hospital Med-nin department. Dr Yakushi had taken personal control of the surgery on Naruto given the level of his injuries, and from what Kakashi had heard before the Council meeting started he had called in every department head serving under him to assist.

"Which leads us to threat assessment, immediate response actions and damage control. Commander Tora has offered me both her resignation and requested exemplary suicide for the failings that have occurred within the ANBU department." Sarutobi waited exactly three seconds after this particular revelation to continue, allowing the shocked gasps of the civilians and the more controlled reactions of the ninja members of the Council to simmer down.

"I have of course, rejected both requests, with potentially a third of the department under investigation I need someone I can trust in charge. Any concerns?" Despite it being a military dictatorship, Sarutobi liked to have honest opinions from the Council about his decisions, as this incident proved none of them were above missing things and making mistakes.

It was one of the things that had made him an excellent Hokage, though given his currently thunderous mood it was unsurprising that anyone offered to be the one to debate this issue with him. After looking round the room for a moment longer the Hokage turned to Kakashi and looked him dead in the eye, which meant they were probably getting to the reason why he had been called here in the first place.

"Jounin Hatake, step forward." As much as he liked to occasionally play up his lazy side Kakashi knew that it wasn't the time, taking three steps forward and saluting.

"Hokage-sama." The Hokage had obviously been expecting something from him, as a ghost of a smile crossed his face faster than most could have possibly perceived it.

"I need you to lead the combat team we are sending to bring in the _Kage_ when their files have been retrieved, there can be no mistakes and no-one can catch wind that there is something wrong." Silently and without the usual bullshit paperwork that normally had to be done when investigating an internal suspect, just how he liked to do his work.

"Understood Hokage-sama, who is on the team?" As Usagi and Hato appeared on either side of him, Kakashi understood exactly how high this particular avalanche was falling from, and exactly how _**fucked**_ these ' _ninja above reproach'_ were going to be when they found them.

"Until we can clear more people, your team will remain as it is now, though once we have identified _Kage_ members then you can recruit others at your discretion." And with that determined, there was only one thing left for Kakashi to ask, even as he started to fall back into the mannerisms he had let slip since leaving the elite ninja force 5 years before.

"Hai Hokage-sama… When do I begin?"

!"£$%^&*()_+

30 minutes later and the Council had finished their discussions and departed, other than the exhausted form of Dr Yakushi who had arrived just before they had wrapped up the meeting to announce that Naruto had survived the initial surgery and was currently in the process of having his index fingers reattached. There was nothing they could do about the removed lung though, as whoever the attacker was had either disposed of it or taken it with them.

Before Hiruzen could get too concerned though, the good doctor had announced that there were signs of Naruto's chakra starting to concentrate in that area, which based off experiences with previous containers was a sign that Naruto might have inherited the same strong regenerative powers his great grandmother had. Not that Dr Yakushi knew that, the man rambling on for a few seconds about what such a strange phenomena could mean before running out of steam.

Still, even with the hope that the Kyuubi's chakra might regenerate Naruto's lung, the range of injuries had gone beyond what Tora had revealed to the Council. It was a sign of how much the attacker hated the boy for what he contained surely, something that made Sarutobi regret ever revealing the boy's condition. Naruto would probably be up and about in a few days, though whether he would be able to recover enough from the attack to become a functional ninja was an entirely different question.

"You approve?" It was a little rhetorical to ask such a question,as any disapproval would have been vocally and stubbornly brought up in front of the Council.

But both 'wise' men liked to keep to the protocols of such conversations, even if neither of them needed them, if nothing else it kept things relatively civil.

"Enough that I didn't feel it worth engaging the masses to discuss the minor details." Danzo Shimura was sat at the back of the Council chamber, a position that allowed him to see as much as the Hokage could, though it was the furthest position from the door.

An acceptable trade off Danzo had always said.

"I assume you knew nothing about this breach in security before today?" Danzo was always almost impossible to read, but Sarutobi felt certain that the man meant every word of his surprisingly emotional response.

"If I had, then their corpses would have been cooling on the floor before I came to report it to you. For Kami's sake Sarutobi, they left a target in the open that could destroy a good portion of the village if pushed the wrong way, and it isn't just going to be the ANBU who we have to worry about!" The grizzled veteran was the most pumped up Sarutobi had seen him in years, but there was nothing like a threat to his beloved village to get him wound up.

Sarutobi could guess at what Danzo was getting at with his last statement, but decided indulging the man's passion and merely gestured for the one eyed man to elaborate.

"These ANBU will have been walking the village when they are known to be on duty, hanging out in Shinobi outlets and bars, as well as with their families. And _no one_ reported anything amiss. Some can claim ignorance, especially if some of the Shinobi are subtle about it, but every Shinobi bar has lists of which teams are on or off duty for security purposes, a law we put in place after the disaster in the second Shinobi war." Sarutobi remembered the law, and the incident that preludes it, like it was only a few months ago.

One of Kumo's greatest infiltrators managed to get through Konoha's security systems, and then managed to murder 7 high level Jounin and Chuunin by dressing as an ANBU and hooking up with them when their guards were down, something that very nearly saw the village collapse into paranoid mob rule before she was caught.

"So what do we do now old friend?" Sarutobi already had a plan, but it would be interesting to see whatever Danzo was cooking up inside that devious strategic mind of his.

He had been neglectful of his garden, and that meant that some weeds had thought they could take it over and pervert it to their own disgusting guises. Now was the time to take the shears and show those foolish members of the younger generation what happened when laziness and greed prevailed over duty and honour.

And for the first time in almost forty years, Sarutobi knew this would be a bloody harvest he would not regret reaping. Konoha and its inhabitants were the legacy of him and his beloved sensei's, and he would cut down the brambles and pull out the weeds that threatened its future, even if he had to get his own hands dirty to do it…

 **A/N: Another chapter without Naruto actually being involved, but as with most of my stories once the main character starts it rarely deviates from them again, so setting the scene in this case is a good thing to do from everyone else's perspectives.**

 **So we have my explanation of the ANBU set-up, a non-exhaustive list of Naruto's injuries, and an unofficial culling of Konoha's Black Ops ninja. Now I just need to decide quite how public/extreme Sarutobi's reaction is going to be, what is going to be going on with the rookies during this period and of course, what the hell is Naruto going to wake up like.**

 **Thoughts, ideas, comments. As long as they aren't completely negative they will be considered :)**

 **Defias out!**


	4. Kage Falls

Naruto had always been an early riser, given how many people seemed to dislike him he had always preferred travelling round the village before most of them were awake, but as his conscious returned this time it was as if his body was stuck in concrete. For some reason his mind was sluggish as well, and it took him several moments of slowly awakening before the _pain_ pierced the last vestiges of his tiredness like a blade to the gut.

"Aaahh" His pained cry was cut short, as the agony of his chest reminded him that he was in fact _very familiar_ with the pain of being stabbed in the gut now, thanks to the Faux-Jiji that had come to him the night before.

Every wheezing breath was painful enough that Naruto was almost tempted to try holding his breath, though his now fully functioning mind knew that would merely delay if not increase the pain he was feeling.

"He's awake, fetch Doctor…" The sound of voices made Naruto open his eyes, and he realised he wasn't in his apartment anymore but instead in a dark room that he didn't recognise.

As more pain washed over him he tried to move, but Naruto realised that pretty much every limb was in a plaster of some sort and suspended in the air, and trying to move any of them was more than painful than trying stay still. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness Naruto saw a nurse arguing with an ANBU just outside the door, who seemed to be reluctant to let her inside, relenting eventually and allowing the door to be opened for the nurse to come inside.

"Uzumaki-san, can you hear and understand me?" With all the pain he was currently experiencing, Naruto was not in the best of moods to put up with stupid questions like that.

But as he opened his mouth, to tell the nurse exactly how well he could hear him, Naruto realised how much his throat and mouth hurt. If that wasn't enough, the mere act of his sharp inhalation of breath made it feel like his lungs were about to explode, causing him to let the breath out before it could even be fully formed.

He settled for a pained nod instead, which seemed to give the nurse enough information, as he turned away and headed off to somewhere on Naruto's left. It was at this point Naruto realised that the ANBU had followed the nurse into the room, the Koala masked woman's hand not having left the hilt of her weapon even as the nurse returned with a plastic cup of water.

"Uzumaki-san, I want you to try and drink a little of this water, if you can't swallow it effectively please spit it out. I know you are confused right now, but Dr Yakushi will explain everything when he arrives I promise." The feeling of helplessness and being weak was the most frustrating thing Naruto had ever felt, even as he felt the chilled and soothing feeling of water dropping from the cup that the nurse had tilted over his face near to his mouth.

Swallowing was a challenge, his entire throat feeling like it had been covered in sandpaper, but Naruto was more than stubborn enough to power through such a feeling. It helped that the pain in his throat was still far less than that in his chest, though as he felt the water reach his stomach he rapidly changed his mind.

"Bleurgh!" Throwing up whilst your entire body was effectively immobilised was quickly raised to being one of the top 3 worst experiences of his life.

He was able to throw up the majority of the the foul smelling contents of his stomach onto his front, but given his lying position some of it remained in his mouth. He had heard the phrase 'drowning in your own vomit', but it was a terrifying realisation that such a thing could very well happen to him.

"Calm yourself Uzumaki-san." Suddenly there was a burst of chakra from the nurse, and the vomit he had been beginning to choke on suddenly rushed from his mouth to join the rest of the vomit that had been pulled from his chest off to his left.

It didn't get rid of the smell or the taste though, which meant that Naruto was happy to accept a second swig of water, and this time he was able to keep it down despite the painful feelings from his stomach.

"Such a reaction is common after almost a week with no food or water Uzumaki-san, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Ah, Yakushi-dono." The nurse turned and bowed as there was the sound of the door to the room opening and closing, though it was only after the ANBU relaxed and shifted back to the corner of the room was Naruto able to see the somewhat familiar figure at the doorway.

"Nono-nee!" His voice had returned enough that he was able to use it, but given how much everything hurt, he kept his attempt at a happy greeting as short as he could.

"Naruto-kun, please do not try and speak any more, okay? I understand your frustration with being forced to stay still because of your injuries, but when I explain things, you will understand how lucky we are you are able to talk at all." The mention of his injuries, as well as the implication of how serious they were, brought memories that Naruto had been doing his best not to think of since awakening…

" _Jiji!" Naruto was surprised to see Hokage-Jiji, as he cautiously opened the door to his apartment, after all he had only seen the old man an hour ago at the Hokage tower._

 _But seeing one of his favourite people was a good way to distract him, from the thoughts about the Kyuubi being inside of him if nothing else._

" _I just thought I would check in on my way home Naruto-kun, I know that the events tonight will have given you a lot to think about." Naruto beamed at the thoughtfulness of the old Shinobi._

 _Given that it was nearly midnight, and the Old Man's house was on the other side of Konoha, it was a rather large detour for the Hokage to make when he could be heading home to sleep._

 _Moving towards the kitchen, where he always kept some of the special tea leaves that he knew the Hokage quite liked, Naruto was surprised when he heard the Hokage close the door behind him. Not because he didn't think Jiji would carry out such a menial task, but it had long been tradition between them to leave the door open for Jiji's ANBU bodyguards to flit in behind him. The last one of the shadowy warriors to enter would close the door, before moving to hide in the shadows._

" _Jiji, you might as well leave the door, I don't like buffing out the scratches lockpicks make on my lock." Which more than enough people had done, when he had first moved out of the orphanage to relieve some of the pressure on Nono-nee and the others._

" _I wouldn't worry about it Naruto-kun, I told them to wait for me outside. I didn't think you would want people swarming your apartment right now…"_

A sharp pain to his cheek brought Naruto out of his memories, now that he looked back on it such an action had been extremely suspicious, even when the Hokage didn't want them there he had two bodyguards following him ALL the time. Nono-nee smiled apologetically as she lowered her hand, obviously she had been the one to slap him back to reality, something that Naruto was more than thankful for.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, but even though you are healing well I can't risk you going into shock, it will badly affect your recovery. Now, I know the last thing you want to do is think about what happened, but we haven't been able to find any substantial evidence of who attacked you. So I am going to ask you some simple questions okay? Just nod or shake your head, don't try and do anything else yet." Thankfully it didn't hurt anymore to nod than it did for him to breathe, so Naruto did his best to hide the pain as he followed her instructions.

"The attack happened a week ago, so don't worry if you can't remember something straight away, Naruto-kun. Given what you went through everyone _will_ understand if you can't answer many questions right now." Nono-nee's tone made it sound that whoever she was talking about wouldn't have a choice in accepting his inability to answer.

His mind was focussed on the other information she provided however. He had been out for a week? What about him becoming a genin? Before he could get wrapped up in that particular brand of self doubt, Nono-nee was speaking in the slow and steady manner he had always associated with her.

"Naruto-kun, we found that you had first been injured in the hall of your apartment. Was this because the attacker broke into your apartment?" It was clear, even to Naruto, that Nono-nee wanted to ask considerably more than just that short question.

But he was glad she had restrained herself, after the initial adrenaline had worn off he was finding it somewhat difficult concentrate fully on what was going on around him. He shook his head, the false Jiji hadn't broken in after all.

Naruto had been injured in the hallway because he had been somewhat paranoid, after what happened with Mizuki-teme and all…

" _Jiji, I've just put the kettle on, would you like Smoked Leaf like usual?" Naruto didn't know why, but it was like his entire skin was trying to let him know something was wrong, every instinct telling him to fight or flee._

 _It was why he had asked the Old Man such a simple question, especially one that nearly everyone in Konoha knew the answer to._

" _That sounds like just what these old bones need Naruto-kun, thank you." Or at least, they thought they did, Naruto thought as he moved back into the hall._

 _Smoked Leaf tea was widely renowned as one of the best brands of tea leaves in Konoha, and this reputation was in no small way enhanced by the fact that the 3rd Hokage was a prolific drinker of it._

 _However, over the last few years Jiji had started switching to simple green teas in the evening, something about it making it difficult for him to sleep and tan… something. Given how much Jiji had thrown himself into his work over that time period, the number of people who would have noticed this change in habit were very few in number._

 _He found Jiji, or at least whoever was pretending to be Jiji, far closer to the kitchen end of the hallway than he imagined he would be, given that the entrance to the Lounge area was much earlier in the corridor on the opposite side. The imposter was looking at one of the pictures on the wall, one of Naruto and the Hokage out on top of the Hokage Mountain looking down at the village, and he turned to face Naruto with a grandfatherly smile that didn't reach his eyes._

" _What's wrong Naruto-kun, you look like you've seen a ghost…" And in that moment Naruto knew for certain that this wasn't Hokage-Jiji in front of him, and everything went to Maki moments later._

Naruto snapped back as Nono-nee finished writing something down, the nurse now doing something with the IV bag Naruto could see up to his right.

"So you opened the door for them?" A quick nod was followed by a grimace as the motion jarred a muscle he didn't even notice he had before now.

"Were they disguised as someone familiar?" Despite himself, Naruto gave a small grin as he nodded once more, at least Nono-nee didn't think he was dumb enough to ignore one of the most important rules at the orphanage.

" _Never open the door to someone you don't know, even if they claim to be an ANBU! If you do, then the Oni will steal you away, and eat you whole!"_

"Given they were disguised, and Iruka-san was in the hospital, there are only a few people we can think of. Was it me they were disguised as?" Naruto shook his head, though he didn't know how he was going to specify that it was Jiji that had been the intruder's disguise if Nono-nee didn't ask directly.

"Was it Hokage-sama?" Thankfully Nono-nee seemed to have a list of people ready, though nodding at the fact that someone dressed as the Hokage had tortured him was something that still made his stomach sink.

"Given the fight you got into with the attacker in your apartment hallway, we have assumed that you realised that it wasn't really Hokage-sama quite quickly. Was it obvious that they weren't actually Hokage-sama?" Thinking back to his memories, Naruto shook his head a little uncertainly.

Naruto had been tired, not to mention distracted with other matters when he had opened the door. Had the imposter been more obviously not Jiji than he thought? And he had just missed these signs until they had done something obvious enough to raise his suspicions?

"But you did realise that they weren't who they were claiming to be?" A more certain nod this time, though Naruto knew if he hadn't been on edge because of Mizuki-teme leading him on, then he probably wouldn't have noticed at all.

"And when they realised you knew, that is when the fight started?" Naruto got half way through the nod before he found himself replaying that moment once more in his mind.

 _Naruto opened his mouth, though what he was going to say hadn't been fully decided yet, but the imposter reacted to something before he could even finish drawing in the breath._

 _Obviously something in Naruto's face or stance had let the imposter know he had been found out, as a fist implanted itself into Naruto's stomach hard enough to knock the breath right out of him. Even as Naruto's mind struggled to comprehend what had just happened he found himself flying through the air down the corridor, towards the front door._

" _Given you defeated Mizuki-san, I expected more of a fight from you. Obviously the traitor was weaker than I thought." Flipping in the air, even as his lungs seemed to work out that they were lacking in the oxygen that they very much needed, Naruto pulled his hands together to perform his new jutsu._

 _He couldn't call out his jutsu, Naruto had been winded enough times in spars to know that he wouldn't just be able to breath again just like that, but that wouldn't stop him tryi… All thoughts left Naruto's mind, as suddenly pain erupted from his hands, and the fake Jiji was FAR too close to him with a blade in hand._

 _The bloodthirsty smile on the fake Hokage's face was so out of place in comparison to the usual grandfatherly smile that Naruto knew it would haunt his nightmares._

" _Better, though I cannot have your clones giving the game away so soon… Naruto-kun."_

And if there was something that would haunt his dreams forever, it was Jiji's voice calmly expressing an almost exaggerated level of joy at the torture he had proceeded to inflict upon him, until Naruto passed out with pain for the third time. The imposter was gone when Naruto next awoke, but the sheer pain that had been resonating throughout his entire body had made all the memories before he woke up here more than a little blurry.

"Naruto-kun, are you ready to continue?" At Nono-nee's concerned question Naruto nodded.

He just hoped there weren't too many more questions, otherwise he wasn't going to be able to stay awake...

!"£$%^&*()_+

"Check his vitals, and I want full bloodwork to make sure there isn't anything we missed whilst extracting the poisons." As Nono gave her two nurses their instructions, she managed to resist wincing as Naruto winced in his sleep in front of her.

Since Kabuto had fallen into the ranks of ROOT, on that dark night so many years before, Nono had promised herself that she would never fail another of her charges. Looking from the battered and brutalised child in front of her, one that despite his prisoner had been one she had been unable to do anything but attempt to nurture, Nono knew she had failed miserably.

"About what we expected, right Hokage-sama?" Looking off to the far side of the room, the Kage medical suite in single most secure building in Konoha, Nono saw the exhausted form of the Hokage sat in the same chair he had spent every night in since Naruto had been found.

"Not what I had hoped I suppose, but given the circumstances…" The attack had taken a toll on all of them, as it hadn't taken long for the basic news of the attack to get out to the general Konoha populace, even if the details seemed to be secret for now.

"It is obvious that even with the Kyuubi's regeneration powers, don't give me that look Hokage-sama, I'm not messing around with stupid law of yours. As I was saying, even with the regeneration giving him a replacement lung, it is clearly not powerful enough to help him recover entirely from the trauma. And as I told him Hokage-sama, until he is ready to answer more questions comfortably, we will let him recover." Most people, in fact Nono couldn't think of anyone other than Hiruzen's close family, would have dared to speak to the Hokage in such a way.

She heard the Koala ANBU gasp at her disrespect, but she had been Hiruzen's personal physician for nearly 10 years, and as the old Shinobi nodded his head in agreement Nono knew she had just the right amount of wriggle room.

"No need to be concerned Dr Yakushi, I will leave Naruto-kun in your capable hands, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to see him right now anyway. Have we had the reports from the surgery?" Nono waved one of the files she had picked up when she had rushed into the room, though a brief glance through it gave her little to share.

"Other than a very potent poison, probably coated on the blade before the attacker entered the apartment, there were no metal scrapings on the bones or in the tissue on the dense muscle. That either means a chakra metal blade was used, one of good quality at least, or we are looking at a very proficient wind blade user." Which narrowed the list of suspects down either way, in this case the lack of evidence was as useful as actual evidence.

"Well that rules out most Chuunin and below, though even if we assume this was a Konoha Shinobi not a foreign spy, that leaves us with dozens if not hundreds of suspects. Our investigators have yet to find a single fibre or skin sample out of place in the apartment as well, which means either the attacker was a ghost or…"

"They have had infiltrator training…" As one of Konoha's greatest former infiltrators, Nono knew the Hokage wasn't bringing it up for no reason, and she was already going through the list of potential suspects in her head.

Skilled Infiltrators, with chakra blades long enough to have left the wound deep enough in Naruto, were few and between in Konoha. Most of them were on deep cover assignments abroad, though the few that weren't were going to be receiving a 'visit' from her the moment she got off shift.

"Understood Hokage-sama, I will go and give the apartment a look, with the assistance of Special Jounin Mitarashi as she has some experience in these techniques. I assume she has been cleared as a potential _Kage?"_ Whilst she had not been there for the initial Konoha Council meeting, Nono had been filled in by Hiruzen when she arrived to make her report.

"She is cleared, Jounin Hatake and his team are preparing a village wide strike tomorrow with members of the Mythic ANBU, the three _Kage_ in their ranks surrendered peacefully when confronted. It seems that not every member of that department are as lost as we had initially feared, they have been checked by Yamanaka-san and his clan members and declared clean enough. Some had noticed some irregularities amongst the 'Numbers', but didn't think it was important enough for them to report to myself or Tora. They have been, 'corrected', in their view for going forward."

Good, Nono had never liked the idea of the _Kage,_ they sounded far too much like ROOT for her liking _._ There was no way the Hokage would keep the _Kage_ active after this mess, even if he didn't announce it publicly like he did with the attack on Naruto. The public arrest of three ANBU Squad leaders, for 'treachery against Konoha', had already done enough damage to civilian perception on Konoha Ninja

"Well, if he wants help Hokage-sama, I am sure I can shake the rust off for one last mission…" Nono wasn't much for violence, which was why she was a good spy and doctor rather than a great Shinobi.

But Naruto was one of _hers_ , and nothing was more dangerous than a mother bear defending its children…

!"£$%^&*()_+

"Usagi in position, on your signal Inu-taichou." Adjusting the once familiar mask, back from when he had been the youngest ANBU captain in history, Kakashi found himself looking down at the last of their targets.

After retrieving the hard copies of the _Kage_ shinobi, the plan to quietly bring them in had to wait for the initial furor of Naruto's attack to die down. Given the uproar, many of the _Kage_ they had stalked had suddenly become far more cautious in their activities, and that would have made a coordinated strike impossible. The _Kage_ ranged from shopkeepers and normal civilians, to Jounin like the one he was currently watching walk through the market stalls on the street below.

"She's made you Koala, either that or she's far more paranoid than her file implies…" Shizuka Namori was, according to her official Shinobi record at least, the quintessential career Shinobi.

3 years as a Genin, 8 as a Chuunin in four different departments including a T&I role, before ascending to Jounin in the Jounin exams 3 and a bit years ago. A large number of B and C rank missions to her name, with half a dozen A-ranks that were more politically important than actively dangerous, nothing that would make her stand out in any way.

"Sorry taichou, I know you wanted me to get closer, but she has been checking every window and mirror as she walks. Your orders?" The Koala ANBU recruit had been a last minute addition to Kakashi's team on the Hokage's order, and Kakashi had the feeling that this was for more than just additional manpower, especially given the somewhat disdainful looks she got from the Mythos ANBU.

"She will either try and lose you in the crowds, or she will head to the side streets to confront you. If it's the former, let her lose you. We will shadow her from here, fall back to point Charlie and await further instruction." That was if it came to that, judging by Shizuka's unhurried change in direction towards one of the roads leading off the market, she was planning a far simpler approach.

"Close with her Koala, it seems Jounin Namori doesn't appreciate being followed. Usagi, give the signal, strike teams to intercept at their discretion." There were two simple clicks in acknowledgement, and Kakashi could see events unfolding around Konoha in his mind's eye.

Shop signs being switched to 'closed' and civilians being firmly but politely removed, as men and women either in ANBU clothing or more casual clothing moved into action. Normal citizens moving to answer the door, as masked figure snuck into houses and apartments through windows and other secondary access points.

It was probably the single largest internal security operation performed inside Konoha in decades. And as Shizuka ducked into an alleyway, with Koala following quickly behind, Kakashi knew it was time for him to take a more active role in it's completion.

"Who are you?" Dropping silently into the alleyway, Kakashi found Shizuka pinning Koala to a wall, with a large kunai at the plain clothes ANBU's throat.

"I would put that away Jounin Namori, one would almost think that you want to hurt someone with that." Kakashi maintained his casual tone, causing Shizuka to drag Koala around to place her between them, even as Usagi slipped into position above and behind her in case she tried something.

"Hatake-san? I thought you left ANBU years ago. What is going on?" It seemed that Shizuka wasn't a fool either way, though she lowered the kunai and released Koala, she didn't put the weapon away or relax from her combat ready stance.

"The _Kage_ have been compromised Namori-san, I need you to relinquish your weapons and come with us." Kakashi had never been one for subtlety on the job, though he did enjoy shocking or joking with his opponents, and judging by Shizuka's face she was unsure which he was doing.

"This is because of the Uzumaki incident? I thought the arrest of so many ANBU meant things were about to come to a head." With a sigh, Shizuka placed the kunai back in her pouch, before moving to undo her kunai pouch.

"Can we do this quietly? I am assuming that, if I come out clean, I can go back to normal dut…" Shizuka cut off as there was the sound of an explosion in the distance, causing Kakashi to reach for his radio and turn it to the general comm channel.

"All teams, report!" There was no immediate response, so Kakashi indicated for Usagi and Koala to secure Jounin Namori, before he leapt back to the rooftops.

It was easy to see the source of the explosion, off to the southwest of his current position. Even as Kakashi moved towards the source, he could see the normal ninja forces already moving to respond.

"Inu-taichou, target resisted when confronted… Tori and Orochi are down…" The voice of one of the ANBU team leaders in his ear made it clear the situation was serious, the man sounding like he had been injured in the attack as well. A purple flare soared into the air as Kakashi landed at the site of the explosion, the remnants of a small bookshop billowing with flames, several Chuunin working to fight the flames as well as rescue those inside.

"All units, suppressing cuffs on all targets. Team Tengu, converge on my position and find the target, lethal force is authorised if required." Whilst the T&I department would want the traitor alive, as Kakashi watched one of the ANBU pulled from the building screaming from the burns covering her body, he decided he wasn't in the mood to be forgiving.

Even if they did bring the traitor in alive, a couple of mangled or missing limbs wouldn't stop them being available for interrogation…

 **A/N: Naruto is introduced! Honestly, if I hadn't introduced him here, I think we could have gone several more chapters before that happens.**

 **Nono is Kabuto's 'mother figure' and orphanage worker in canon, and Kabuto ends up killing her after she infiltrates Kumo and is mind washed by Danzo. It seems a silly move by Danzo in my opinion, so in this version she has survived, and splits her time between being head of the hospital and helping at the orphanage.**

 **This won't have a big impact on Kabuto's storyline, though with his parental figure around he might not fall as deeply into the world of ROOT/Sound.**

 **And of course, events continue to spiral from the original attack. You can either believe that Orochimaru didn't know about the existence of** _ **Kage**_ **when he attacked Naruto, or more likely that he has infiltrated them with his spies as well.**

 **What Orochimaru missed, if he cared at all, is that so many of the Numbers ANBU were in on abandoning their posts. If it had just been one or two teams, then the reaction by Konoha wouldn't have been as serious, to avoid a potential panic. But with mass dereliction on the table, Sarutobi has no recourse other than to assume the entire system is rotten.**

 **So, whilst no one will work out it was Orochimaru for quite some time to come, the ripples of the attack will be wide reaching to say the least.**

 **On a more serious note, I have to offer an apology now. I have recently bought a house, which all of a sudden means I have suddenly got to worry about this whole 'being an adult and managing my budget' thing. I know I don't post regularly, but this is me letting you guys know that that rate is going to drop significantly going forward.**

 **I did set up a .on account, but I don't think what I offer on here is going to be worth people spending money on. Though, if you want to check it out, it is the same username as I use here. Perhaps I am being overly pessimistic.**

 **I have muscled through all of my working stories to provide you with a new chapter for each of them, I hope you all enjoy them, and apologies for the bad news.**

 **Let me know what you think guys!**

 **Defias out**


	5. The First Step

**Hokage's Office, Two days after Operation:** _ **Kage Falls**_

 **The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi**

"So much for taking in the _Kage_ quietly, we can only be thankful there were no permanent casualties. Dr Yakushi, what is the status of the bomber?" Sarutobi was doing his best not to show his displeasure at the situation regarding the _Kage_ , though the 'upside' to the situation was that the ANBU had taken no chances with the other undercover operatives, meaning that none of the others had a chance to prepare contingencies if they had any.

"Given that he lost an arm, and his right leg below the knee when he was 'taken into custody', the fact that he is still alive is probably the best status update I can give right now. I've assigned a couple of the more senior medics to him, they should keep him alive long enough for interrogation purposes. We couldn't reattach the arm though, given the… method of removal." That made sense, Hiruzen mused as he watched Dr Yakushi level a glare at the unrepentant Jounin who completed the capture of the _Kage_ in question.

Kakashi-kun's Chidori jutsu was remarkably destructive to tissue and bone upon impact, and given the implication of the man's arm being removed entirely, perhaps the Copy Ninja had used the fabled Raikiri instead.

"He looked like he was going to try and do hand signs… Given he had just set off a bomb in central Konoha, I didn't want to take the risk of further booby traps." Sarutobi nodded, even if he didn't believe a word of Kakashi's report.

The Jounin was remarkably vindictive when suitably provoked, and he had a soft spot for ANBU members given his former position. Deciding that it was best he move things along, before Kakashi said something to annoy the good Doctor further, Sarutobi indicated towards the door with a casual wave.

"Kakashi-san, I need you to go and speak to your 3rd pupil, now that he is awake and stable enough for discussions. Despite giving your team a preliminary pass to their Genin test in these circumstances, you will still need to test them, if and when Naruto-kun is capable of returning to active duty. I need you and Nono-san to test him, both physically and psychologically, over the next two days. I would do it myself, but given the henge the attacker used, Naruto-kun's reactions to my presence do not lend themselves to...Civil discussion."

Nono winced, no doubt remembering this morning's 'incident', where Sarutobi had come to visit through the main door to the hospital room Naruto was being kept in...

 _Even as he waited for Koala to open the sliding door, the ANBU keeping with protocol even in his case, something that showed how serious she was taking her new role as Naruto-kun's permanent guard, Sarutobi could tell that this meeting was not going to go well._

 _Naruto's entire body language had stiffened when the boy caught sight of him, and Hiruzen could feel a spike in the boy's chakra even as he stepped into the room, and it wasn't just the boy's personal chakra that filled the air._

" _Hokage-sama." There was an uncertain wariness to Naruto's greeting, as if the boy was on the verge of trying to run or attack him, despite the fact Hiruzen had instructed his guards to remain visible for this visit to put Naruto more at ease._

 _The formality of the address wasn't exactly unexpected, given what the poor boy had suffered, but it still brought a pain to Sarutobi's chest as he did his best to smile disarmingly._

" _Naruto-kun, I am sorry to hear what happened to you…" Naruto was getting more and more stressed by the moment, and without really thinking about it Hiruzen stepped forward to try and comfort the boy._

" _NO!" Even as a wave of Chakra shot from Naruto, Hiruzen could tell that probably hadn't been the cleverest move to do._

 _It wasn't exactly dangerous to the old Shinobi, though it caused him to brace against it as he slid back across the tiled floor a few inches. What was more concerning was the terrified look on Naruto's face, as his chakra manifested around him like an angry mother bear._

 _But even as Hiruzen compared the reaction to the other bouts of accidental manifestation he had come across in his time, Dr Yakushi was already moving him towards the door._

" _Sorry Hokage-sama, but this level of chakra usage is dangerous for Naruto-kun, especially as he doesn't seem to be in control of its actions…" The breaking of glass in front of him, as another surge of chakra shot in their direction and shattered the glass window that separated Naruto-kun's room from the corridor, served to highlight the medic's point quite well…_

Not as bad a reaction as Sarutobi had feared, as the boy himself didn't seem to be consciously attacking him. But if his chakra was responding to his subconscious now, that made him volatile, especially as a potential Genin. If it could be trained though…

"Understood Hokage-sama, I will take him to meet the rest of his team if Dr Yakushi will permit me and he's up to it. He won't want them to see how weak he is right now, but the sooner we manage that issue, the quicker he will be able to fit in. Anything I should be particularly cautious about?" It was a difficult question for Sarutobi to answer, primarily because they still weren't sure what exactly would set the boy off, but also because whatever he told Kakashi would end up with his other two Genin learning one way or another.

"Avoid mentioning my name or title as much as possible, given the attacker's disguise any mention is likely to have Naruto withdraw into himself, if not react in a fight/flight manner. Also, prevent any form of physical contact, we cannot be sure how much control he has over his chakra right now. Otherwise I will need you to 'push the boundaries' somewhat, if Naruto still wants to be a ninja, we cannot afford to be too cautious." As much as it would pain him to do so, if Naruto couldn't handle simple interactions with people he already knew, Sarutobi would take him off active duty indefinitely.

Whilst there were missions that didn't require social interactions, almost all of them were missions that involved killing in one form or another, which would no doubt make the problem worse not better.

"Understood Hokage-sama, I will ensure that his teammates are aware of the basics of what they need to avoid…" With a nod from Sarutobi, Kakashi formed the hand seals for a Shushin, disappearing in a burst of leaves.

Dr Yakushi followed a couple of seconds later with her own nod of understanding, though she would no doubt need to leave watching Team 7 to some of her subordinates, the hospital would be hectic enough as it is for her with the aftermath of the bombing.

Sarutobi leant back in his seat for a moment, tensing as he stretched as many muscles in his body as he could, doing his best to ignore the painful protests many of them gave at the action. Whilst he would like nothing more than to go for a long walk, something that would allow him some small measure of relaxation as well as a chance to stretch his legs, his ANBU guards had already indicated he had people waiting for his next meeting.

With a tired sigh, as it was already clear that he wasn't going to get home at a reasonable time this evening, Sarutobi waved for them to be let in. He straightened in his seat a little as Inoichi and Ibiki walked into the room, not because he thought they would care about his slightly slouched posture, but because he knew what they were here to talk to him about.

"Hokage-sama." Inoichi's greeting was slightly more formal than Ibiki's nod, but given the scarred investigator had been sleeping about as much as Sarutobi had since the attack on Naruto, Sarutobi was more than prepared to forgive the slight break in formality.

"Gentlemen, what news do you have on the _Kage_ interrogations?" Whilst Dr Yakushi had been stabilising the bomber, and dealing with the other injured from the attack, the T &I department had been very busy dealing with the rest of the shadowy ninja division.

"Here is the full report so far Hokage-sama. Of the 57 _Kage_ members apprehended, 13 of them were compromised significantly or completely, including _Kage_ Commander Jounin Otogawa. Of the others, at least 15 of them can be dismissed or demoted for gross misconduct, and 7 other members have gone to ground." That, that wasn't actually as surprising as Sarutobi thought it might have been, it had been a private fear of his since the beginning of this debacle after all.

Kigo Otogawa had been one of Konoha's longest serving ninja, which was in no small part helped by his position as _Kage_ Commander meaning the Yondaime kept him from many of the more dangerous missions available when he appointed the man. For the department to have fallen as far as the initial reports indicated, the hierarchy of the _Kage_ had to be corrupted as well.

There had never been an indication that Otogawa had been anything but completely loyal, when Sarutobi had returned to the Hokage position and interviewed him, though perhaps his faith in the Yondaime had stopped him from digging as deeply as he perhaps should have.

"How badly are we compromised?" The tiredness, that came with so many years in the Hokage seat, seeped into his words without him really meaning for it too.

But this, this was the evidence that he had feared to find more than any other. The ANBU Cadre dereliction could have been explained as a more recent incident, the squads too used to more than a decade of peace and lulled into a false sense of security. The _Kage_ bomber could have been an isolated spy, even if that would have been hard to believe.

"Jounin Otogawa's list of clients is… extensive to say the least. He has sold information about Konoha and it's Ninja to at least 20 different people, both inside the village and further afield. We don't know who some of these 'clients' work for, but at least half a dozen of them are former people of interest in cases ranging from murder to espionage…" It was painful to listen, the sins of those he had thought of as family laid out before him, and for a moment Sarutobi thought he felt the sharp pain in his chest of the heart attack Dr Yakushi had been warning him of for years.

But, as Ibiki then began to summarise the depths of how compromised Konoha's security was, the pain faded to a dull ache that he recognise as guilt.

"The others range from full on espionage, these have already been confined to high security cells, to selling their silence to keep quiet about other Shinobi's misconduct. A _Kage_ Kunoichi undercover at the academy, Chuunin Suzume, accepted various bribes from Mizuki to ignore things that would have lead to us arresting him months ago. Whilst most of the _Kage_ haven't done things that would allow us to claim they are traitors, at least half of them have ignored things amongst our other Ninja that could be signs of espionage and corruption."

Sarutobi reached up with his hand to grip where his nose met the skull, rubbing it for a few moments to try and alleviate the building headache brewing in his skull, before asking the question he probably didn't want to know the answer to.

"How many of them are clean?" The sour look that crossed Ibiki's told Sarutobi his answer before he even opened his mouth.

"5 of them are completely clean, not including the ones that were part of the Mythos cadre, and about a dozen others only have minor misdemeanours related to not reporting suspicions about their superiors in the _Kage_." Which meant that at best 20 of the _Kage_ would be returning to duty without repercussions, and whilst the numbers weren't anywhere near acceptable, it was much better than they originally feared.

And perhaps, amongst this steadily growing list of embarrassments, there was opportunity…

"We have names and addresses of those that bought information or bribed the _Kage_?" For the first time in the conversation, Ibiki _smiled_ , in a manner that reminded Sarutobi of a hunter ninja coming across a tavern full of drunk and unconscious Missing Ninja.

"Arrests are already taking place Hokage-sama, in relation to 'the terrorist bombing' that occurred in the market. My department will be busy for quite some time…" Given they had already processed over 100 ninja in the past week, Sarutobi had no doubt of Ibiki's prediction/implication.

The corrupting elements in Konoha's shadow were coming to light now, and for every rock they turned over the size of the problem would only grow...

!"£$%^&*()+_

 **Academy Training Ground 1, one week after 'Graduation Day'**

 **Rookie Genin, Ino Yamanaka**

"3 more laps to go Ino-chan!"

Ino hated running laps. Don't get her wrong, she knew that as a Ninja she needed to do a lot of running about, but running around in a circle was at best boring and at worst embarrassing. But as her new sensei, Asuma Sarutobi, called out to her once more Ino knew that she was more embarrassed by her team than her own performance.

Whilst Sasuke-kun had already finished his laps, and was now performing Taijutsu kata along with Kiba, Shino and Hinata under the watchful eyes of Team 8's sensei Kurenai Yuuhi, she was the next closest to finishing their 25 laps of Academy Training Ground 1. The other graduated teams were using the other Academy Training Ground, though from what Ino had picked up from her 'contacts' on the other teams, it was only their three teams that had completely passed their Genin Team testing.

Chouji was the next closest in the group, only half a lap or so behind her, though the boy was so red in the face that Ino honestly thought he was going to collapse at points.

"Shikamaru-kun, if I see you slow down again, I will be volunteering you to be the practice opponent for every spar today. That's on top of gathering all the practice weapons up later!" Asuma sounded more than slightly frustrated with the young Nara, and it was only when Ino spoke to him quietly after their first couple of sub par training sessions that the man was able to start motivating the so called 'genius' of the Nara clan.

As she passed Shikamaru, for at least the fourth time this morning, Ino levelled a glare at the lazy boy. It was bad enough she was so far behind her beloved Sasuke-kun, but her entire team was getting shown up. Forehead didn't count, because she was civilian born and not a Clan Heir like the rest of them…

"Come on Forehead! I'm catching up with you again!" The pinkette growled ominously at the 'affectionate' nickname Ino had for her rival.

But, as Ino watched the girl gain a new burst of speed, she couldn't help but feel a little proud of her former best friend. It wouldn't stop her pounding her into the ground if they were sparring later, but it stopped Ino from doing anything to further wind up the rather volatile girl. Instead, Ino returned to her thoughts on the subject that most people had stopped discussing on the day of graduation.

The fact that Iruka had disappeared to find Naruto of all people, and the implication that the loudmouth had somehow managed to get the decision about his Genin exam reversed somehow, paled in comparison to the chaos that erupted when the Black flare was spotted out of their window 15 minutes later.

ALL of them knew what that meant, and considering how many of the Clan children's parents were classified as 'S-rank' targets, even Shika had been getting his kunai ready to go assist in whatever was going on. They were literally graduating that day, but they had all thought at the time that graduating the Academy had made them Genin, and response to a Black Signal Flare was required by EVERY non-essential Ninja.

The timing of the Black Flare had been bothering the part of Ino's brain that knew something was up though, something her friends had not too kindly referred to as her 'gossip sense', and the fact that it was a pair of ANBU that arrived in the classroom to stop them leaving only made it 'ring' all the harder in her mind.

The fact that Sasuke-kun's team was only two members right now, and that no one would answer their questions about what had happened with the Black flare attack, only made Ino focus on the issue more. She knew she wasn't the only one, Shika had managed to half heartedly muster up half a dozen questions of his own at various points. After performing a genjutsu cancellation to make sure she wasn't being pranked, Ino knew it was a sign that he was probably more interested about this than he had ever been in the Academy syllabus.

It wasn't even as if the dots were hard to connect, so either the adults thought they were all idiots, or they weren't trying too hard to stop them investigating. In fact Team 7's sensei, who in Ino's opinion was the weirdest of their new teachers by far, seemed to be trying to encourage them. His half answers, and pointing out of which particular parts of her inquiries he was not going to answer, always gave her something to go and ask someone else about.

She'd spent most of her time over the last week investigating one way or another, other than that horrible afternoon when a bomb was set off in one of the market areas, and she had still been unable to find anything concrete. All she 'knew' at this point was that Naruto had done something to earn his graduation headband, her dad wouldn't be specific but it sounded like he had gotten into a fight or something.

Then things got a little hazy, but she was almost certain that Naruto had been attacked as part of the incident that had generated the Black Flare. It was the only thing that the sensei's had confirmed, and it was only due to Kurenai-sensei reassuring a frantic Hinata on the third day of training that Ino knew the poor boy was still alive, and hopefully going to recover enough to become a Genin.

Ino knew the fact they were hiding the seriousness of Naruto's injuries, as well as the fact that none of them were being allowed to visit or even know where he was, meant that the injuries were definitely more serious than a spar gone wrong or whatever excuse they could have used otherwise.

"Right, that will do Ino-chan, two extra laps is a good show of determination though! Come grab 5 before joining in the kata practice. Sakura-san, you can stop there for today, make sure to stretch before you rest girls!" Asuma-sensei's voice made Ino succinctly aware of quite how painful her legs were all of a sudden, obviously she had been lost deeper in her thoughts than she would have thought possible.

"H-Hai Asuma-sensei… Any news on Naruto's recovery?" Whilst her repeated questioning about Naruto had initially drawn odd looks from not just Sakura but the others, she hadn't felt the need to justify her curiosity to them, and after a couple of days most of them didn't bother reacting any more.

"Yes actually, Kakashi-san wants to take Sakura-san and Sasuke-san to see him today, and he should then be able join us for training in a few weeks." Ino had been expecting the usual negative response in all honesty, and it took her a moment before her mind registered that she hadn't been blown off for once.

"Really? What about the rest of us? I know Hinata-chan wants to see him again…" The Hyuuga squeaked rather adorably, but if she thought her crush on the blond boy was a secret, then she was going to be horribly disillusioned.

But at this point the teasing of her fellow Kunoichi had been a secondary benefit, her focus had been fixed on Asuma-sensei, despite her rather haggard breathing. The man was a skilled Shinobi, something he had proven by handily defeating all 8 of them at once without even drawing a weapon, but Ino found him remarkably easy to read.

And as she expected, the minute flinch and frown that crossed his face was all the answer she needed, even if they were covered a moment later with his usual easy going smile.

"Not right now, Naruto is still recovering from his injuries and…" There was the sounds of a Shushin from behind her, but it was the shock that Asuma-sensei showed in the minute widening of his eyes, that made Ino turn around to see who it was.

Kakashi was stood in his usual relaxed manner, though he had an arm firmly placed on the shoulder of the boy she had just been asking about.

"Kakashi, Hokage-sama explicitly instructed…" Ino didn't have to have been trained by her father in the more 'subtle' arts of the Yamanaka to see the boy's reaction to the Hokage's title, even if the boy tried to play off his flinch as nothing after it happened.

"Naruto-kun insisted that he would be able to cope with this, his exact words were that 'better to get this over with in one go' or something cute and adorable like that. Besides, I think some sun would do him some good at this point." Even as Ino giggled, Kakashi's attempt to wind Naruto up as a method of distracting him from their stares obvious though effective, she couldn't help but look the boy up and down in slight shock.

Naruto had never been big, in fact Ino had been rather surprised how well he did in Taijutsu given his very light build, but now he looked practically gaunt in comparison. Cheeks, once covered in baby fat, were now almost drawn tight over his cheekbones. His jumpsuit looked like it almost might fall off him if he moved wrong, and Ino could see the end of a belt that was drawn _far_ too tightly around his waist, no doubt being the only thing keeping his trousers up.

"Kakashi-sensei!" To her surprise, Naruto didn't get overly wound up and have a tantrum, something that had been a rather unappealing habit of his previously, and his voice barely rose above the level Kiba usually used.

It was almost as if the boy was afraid of making too much noise, even as he seemed to notice their staring. He did his best to give his usual massive grin, but even when they were at the Academy Ino could tell that it was somewhat a front, now it was like looking at the bared teeth of a cornered animal.

"Eh, Hi Guys… You better not have all been learning kick ass Ninjutsu without me Dattebayo!" Even his hands showed how much their classmate had suffered over the last week, there were still several stitches around the forefinger of the hand he used to wave, the discoloured skin visible making it clear the digit had been _cut_ off.

"Hello Naruto-san, not yet. Our Sensei have just been doing physical training so far, though they mentioned some chakra control training at some point next week I think." Ino was speaking without really thinking, the psychological training her father had given her kicking in, and she realised with a small internal groan that she was probably going to have to become Naruto's friend.

The others, other than Shino and perhaps Shika, wouldn't have the patience for dealing with someone who had evidently been attacked and badly injured. Sasuke-kun might understand, given what happened with his Clan, but the two boys would spend all their time butting heads rather than talking.

"Not that you can join in right now Naruto-baka, you look terrible! What happened to you?" Ino instantly re-evaluated the worst possible person for Naruto to be around right now, Sakura probably meant her words in a different manner than they came across, but as Naruto froze in place it was clear that their sensei weren't going to be much use right now.

"Asuma-sensei, as I am up to date with my kata, how about I take Naruto and run him through some basic exercises with Hinata-chan? I am sure he will be able to catch up in no time, and then he can join in with our other exercises…" She could have just left it, after all she had probably only talked to Naruto half a dozen times in the Academy, but Ino knew her Grandfather would never forgive her if she did.

Kabaji Yamanaka had been captured in the Third Shinobi war, and had been held by enemy forces for 3 years before the Yellow Flash brought the war to its rather abrupt end. Whilst she loved her Jiji, Ino had always known that the haunted look that entered his eyes was never quite going to go away, and that was similar to the look that she could now see in Naruto's eyes.

The last thing he needed to do now, and probably ever, was talk about what he had just been through with them. Given the approving nod that Kakashi-sensei sent in her direction, even as Sakura got rather worked up over the fact she had been ignored, Ino indicated off towards the weapons training area whilst maintaining a healthy distance from Naruto.

There had been just one time she had tried to grab her Jiji when he had been lost in his memories of the war, and thankfully her Dad had managed to catch her as the elderly Yamanaka threw her across the room with a panicked reflex. When Naruto felt a little more comfortable, they might try some light sparring, but for now weapon drills would suffice…

 **A/N: Firstly, Big Thumbs up to Sir Omega here, as he inadvertently pointed out another way that the attack has an impact on Canon. Iruka going to get Naruto, then the Black Flare, then neither Iruka or Naruto returning to the class, is going to generate questions amongst his classmates. Genin are meant to respond to a Black Flare, which means they have to know what it stands for.**

 **As I've alluded to here, nobody has made the jump to Naruto being the S-rank target yet, Ino merely thinks he was caught in the crossfire for example. But as the damage done to Naruto becomes more prevalent (A week pretty much without food and water will have caused significant weight loss, as the Kyuubi's chakra converts other sources of mass into what is needed to keep Naruto alive), the more questions will be asked.**

 **Speaking of, what do people think of my Ino? Still a Fangirl, though with significantly more depth afforded to her than given at this stage in Canon. I've also tried to explain why her clan training doesn't afford her the combat advantages that the rest of the Rookie 9 have, as it is more focussed on information gathering and psychology. Because of this grounding, Ino follows in her father's footsteps with her first 'patient', not that Naruto would accept being called as such.**

 **The little introductions to each Scene break, the introduction of place, time and person in bold, comes on the back of several people reviewing. They say that the jumps are a little jarring, and that sometimes the context is a little hard to get at first.**

 **Why are the Teams training together? With all the security problems going on in Konoha, not only does it allow Kakashi to go lead the ANBU teams, but it also means that the Clan heirs are in one place that can be secured relatively easily. Assuming that there are a couple of weeks break after each Class graduation, the Academy can be turned into a Genin training centre in this time.**

 **Regarding Naruto turning up, despite being weak enough that Sakura could beat him in a Taijutsu fight right now, it comes back to one of Naruto's key psychological characteristics. In Canon, it is shown as being headstrong and refusing to give up in the face of adversity. In this story, the same characteristic is morphed into his refusal to be seen as weak, even if trying to prove he isn't will kill him if he isn't careful.**

 **Regarding the investigation, the more stones that are unturned, the bigger the ripples of corruption spread. But, despite the massive damage this whole issue does to Konoha's pride and confidence, there is now the chance to start turning the tables.** _ **Kage**_ **ninja that are selling information will be offered a chance to work as double agents, or else.**

 **Some of the foreign/domestic agents in Konoha will realise they're in trouble before Konoha can turn the tables, hence 7 of the** _ **Kage**_ **going into hiding before Kakashi's teams could strike (*COUGH* ROOT *COUGH*). But those that haven't, present as much an opportunity to Konoha's Intelligence department as they do a problem now.**

 **A Question asked in the review last chapter, if Orochimaru had used Kusanagi. Yes he did, but given it's properties and the fact no one knows it's Orochimaru, the medics will just assume it is a 'normal' Chakra Blade coated with poison.**

 **Big thanks to Treant Balewood, Eirik, Thomas Smith and Druid, for being supporters of my work. I'm still getting goosebumps when I write stuff like that. :P And if anyone wants to become a Fanling of mine (see previous chapter and/or search 'Defiasstone2' on Google and begins with P), I would be hugely grateful.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think boys and girls!**

 **Defias Out!**


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